Apprentice of the Rocket Man by Angus Stone was the perfect inspiration for this hard-to-write chapter. And thank you, La Madone, for telling me to check my anonymous reviews... I honestly didn't know about that! haha. This chapter does contain spoilers from Iron Man 3. If you haven't seen it, DO IT NOW. Enjoy, guys.

"Did you sleep last night?"

The question would have been innocent, normally. Tony Stark had trouble answering it though. For the first time in a very long time last night, he'd closed his eyes and lost himself to the comforting blackness. After New York, and after everything that happened with The Mandarin and Aldrich Killian, he'd thought it might be beyond him. No one can expect to sleep normally after going through that, he'd rationalized with himself.

Once Pepper and Happy were in the clear, and things had begun to return to the way they were, he still hadn't slept. He knew Pepper knew. She didn't sleep much either. He was okay with it for a little while. They could be united in their sleep deprivation; work through these things together. But he'd slept last night.

And she hadn't.

So he didn't register the question when she asked it. She already knew. And what was the point of bringing it up at the end of the day?

They'd been apart since he'd crawled out of bed. She had her meetings. He had his. And now, after the day was coming to a close and all he wanted to do was spend time with her, and a couple of glasses of champagne…that was hanging in the mix now.

"Did you want some of this?" he asked, holding up the bottle. "Or am I going to have to drink in solitude tonight?"

There was a flicker of a pause. Just a flicker. And she smiled, her rose lips making his cheeks color. "Of course."

"Good answer." He grabbed a glass and poured the champagne into it. As he handed it to her, he leaned in and gave her a long kiss, tasting her, holding her. He had nearly lost her. And while he'd never said anything, all he'd thought about was what he'd have done if he'd lost her. He'd have been incomplete.

"That was nice," she commented when he broke away.

"I agree. In fact, I think drinking champagne and kissing should be a nightly event. It's healthy. Good for the spark."

She rose an eyebrow. "The spark?"

"That…thing that people have in relationships that first attracts them to one another...that keeps them together."

"You mean honesty, trust, and understanding?" she listed.

"Well, when you put it all so literally..." He shrugged.

She smiled, and took a sip of her champagne. "You know what else is good for "the spark"? The occasional good night's sleep."

"You know," Tony spun and walked over to his desk, punching a few keys on the computer. "Vacations are also necessary."

"Where are you trying to whisk me off to now?" Pepper followed him. "And don't tell me its somewhere where you're going to have to be in meetings the entire time."

"Well, JARVIS will be there." He pulled up the website and spun the laptop around. "But he won't be able to partake in all the pleasures."

Pepper blinked. "Tahiti?"

"Someone suggested it recently."

"Someone?"

"It may have been one of those rookies at SHIELD. Said something about it being a "magical place". Whatever kind of loaded meaning that might be." Tony pretended to take a hit from an imaginary joint. "Still, seems…like it could be nice, right?"

Pepper tilted her head to the side. He knew that look; uncertainty.

"It could be a place to relax, to try and…forget…about what happened."

She scoffed. "It's not about forgetting; it's about being able to accept it, to move past it."

"Did I say 'forget'? I meant…"

Suddenly, the overhead com blipped to life. "I hate to interrupt, sir," JARVIS's precise voice chirped, "But two agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. are downstairs wishing to speak with you."

"Not now, JARVIS," Tony shouted.

Pepper started to turn around.

"Pepper, wait." He lightly grabbed her shoulder. "I just want to help."

"I'm afraid they are being rather insistent, sir," JARVIS relayed.

"When are they not?"

"Tony, just go talk to them," Pepper said, placing a hand on his chest, the blue light filtering between her fingers. "We'll talk about this later."

"They've come to speak to you about the invasion of New York."

Tony glanced up at the overhead speakers. "Another good reason to tell them I'm busy," he grumbled, starting to walk after Pepper. "Wait…"

She walked into the other room and closed the door behind her.

He grabbed the doorknob.

"Sir, they've come to talk to you about Agent Coulson."

His hand froze.

Why would they want to talk about that? Fury was there. He knew what happened. Everyone knew. Everyone had seen the agent's body, the body bag, and the blood. Just thinking about it immediately made his temper spike. The last time he and Pepper had enjoyed a glass of champagne together at home had been when Coulson had dropped in on them unexpectedly. It was the beginning of everything horrible that had happened with Loki.

"Sir?" JARVIS repeated. "What would you like me to do?"

He let his fingers slip from the doorknob. "Send 'em up."

Skye swallowed as she and Ward ascended in the elevator. She crossed and uncrossed her arms and tapped her foot.

Ward glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. "He's going to help us. You don't have to worry."

"It's not that," she said.

"Then…what?"

"I used to hate Tony Stark. When I was with Rising Tide, I listened to a lot of people tell me how terrible a person he was, not the least of which was self-obsessed and arrogant."

"So…you are worried about whether or not he'll help us," Ward assumed.

"I'm worried he's not going to take us seriously. I'm worried that he'll kick us out with our tails between our legs."

"Coulson spoke of him pretty highly."

"I guess I missed it in between all of the comments about him being annoying to a T," Skye said under her breath.

"We're in the elevator, aren't we?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors sliced open. Skye had expected the opulence, had expected the rich leather, the gorgeous view of the city, the sky beginning to darken and the lights popping on in the various buildings, and the sun burning like an ember close to the line between sky and earth.

She hadn't expected the shell-shocked look on Tony Stark's face. It was only in his eyes for a moment, as if he'd expected to see someone else entirely different when the doors had opened. It was gone before she could take a breath.

Ward stepped out of the elevator first and immediately took point. "Mr. Stark, I'm Agent Grant Ward with S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Somehow I'd expected more…suits," Tony answered.

"And this is my team's consultant, Skye."

"Skye? One name; like Cher, huh?" he quipped.

Skye ground her teeth together.

Stark continued. "Consultant? I was called that once. Had to piss off a General and keep a rampant abomination locked up. Bought and destroyed a bar just for the fun of it. I miss those times."

He's taking it all as a joke. Just like I thought he would. "Agent Coulson brought me in," she said, crossing her arms.

Stark stiffened a little. "Before New York, you mean?"

"A couple months ago, actually."

Stark pointed at her. "Lying doesn't become you, Cher."

"Agent Coulson is alive, Mr. Stark," Ward reiterated.

Tony looked away, waving them off. "It's impossible. I saw him dead myself."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. brought him back."

A range of emotions crossed Stark's face in a matter of a few seconds: outrage, confusion, and sadness…and not the remotest glimmer of hope. It made Skye's own confidence in their decision to tell him dissolve.

"He's been alive this whole time. I can't help but notice that you're all telling me a little late."

"Director Fury never would have told you," Skye said.

"But you are. Why?"

"Because he needs our help. Your help."

"Did anyone tell the…cellist?"

Skye and Ward just looked at one another in confusion.

Stark cleared his throat. "If S.H.I.E.L.D. brought him back, then it's their mess to deal with. I've already had enough of jumping through their hoops." He turned and started walking away. "You can show yourselves out."

Skye stomped down the steps into the room, the anger making her skin grow hot. "I can't believe you'd just ignore him like that. After everything he's done for you."

Tony rounded on her. "I saved the world for him. To ask any more than that is pushing it."

"He was the reason you pulled your act together. But if he hadn't died, you'd have still fought tooth and nail to keep those alien armies out of New York," Ward said.

"If you could go back to that day on the Helicarrier, if you could save his life, wouldn't you at least try?" Skye pleaded.

Tony regarded her for a moment, their brown eyes scrutinizing each other's. "You're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"Something tells me you rarely are," she spat.

"He hasn't bothered to ask me himself, let alone tell me he's still alive and kicking. If that's how much our friendship meant to him, then I'm going to try not to take it personally," Stark growled.

"So that's what this is about? Him owing you something?" Skye narrowed her gaze. "Maybe I'm no expert, but I think the person who actually died trying to save the world should be the one owed something. Or are you just too butt hurt to care; to go out on a limb for someone you used to be friends with?"

"'Butt hurt?'" Tony repeated. "Did you just call me "butt hurt"?"

"Coulson spent last week in the desert being tortured by an organization that only wants to know how he came back from the dead," Ward announced.

Stark's eyes darkened.

"And no, he doesn't know. S.H.I.E.L.D. has kept it all from him."

"We need to find out what happened to him before…" Skye took a breath. "…Before we lose him again."

Stark stared down at her, his jaw set. She saw his facial muscles tense, his arms rigid. Finally, they'd struck a nerve.

"Where is he?" he finally said.

"On the Bus."

Stark just stared at her.

"It's our plane." Ward clarified. "At least that's where we last left him. We're on the ground at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base"

"Give me some time to get some stuff together and I'll meet you back there in an hour."

Skye nodded and turned to join Ward on the stairs.

"And hey, Cher?"

She turned.

"He's lucky to have you looking out for him."

She wished she could smile. But knots of worry were tied throughout her system. So she turned and waved Ward toward the elevator.

Chapter 8 to come soon...